Happy Thursday! Look what we got you: Streams of new albums from Franz Ferdinand, Puscifer, Drumgasm, Forest Swords, and more. Enjoy.
1) Franz Ferdinand, Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action. “Confident and freshly energized, Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action captures the ease of pressure that comes with knowing that a decade-old band can’t be co-opted as a cool new thing… Singer Alex Kapranos once said the group would make ‘music for girls to dance to,’ and the propulsive bass lines and immediate drumming align on Right Thoughts…& to fulfill that statement. The provocation to move feels especially resounding in standout tracks like ‘Bullet’ and the disco-dripping single ‘Right Action.'” (via NPR)
2) Neko Case, The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You. “Recorded with an assortment of her favorite collaborators — including producer Tucker Martine, longtime backup singer Kelly Hogan, M. Ward, her New Pornographers colleagueA.C. Newman, Visqueen’s Rachel Flotard, and many more — The Worse Things Get (out Sept. 3) tucks thrills into its margins and doles them out in time-release doses. As her subtle touches suddenly cohere and register as surprises six or eight listens later (wait, are those submarine noises?), it’s clear that Case remains essentially peerless: No one sounds like her, so every little revelation feels altogether new.” (via NPR)
3) Drumgasm, Drumgasm. “The explosive, 39-minute free-wallop Drumgasm& is the work of three alt-rock-drumming luminaries making giddy splatter-jazz on three kits: a percussive, improvised Pollock painting that bubbles and shoots off psychedelic sparks. Upon the urging of Janet Weiss (Sleater-Kinney, Wild Flag, Quasi), fellow bashers Matt Cameron (Pearl Jam, Soundgarden) and Zach Hill (Death Grips, Hella) joined her in a Portland studio with no notes, no ideas, no prompts — just three drum kits and a stickbag of mutual respect, ultimately creating what Weiss calls a ‘modern, psychotic drum circle.'” (via SPIN)
4) Volcano Choir, Repave. “As leader of Bon Iver, Justin Vernon has been extremely sparing with new material, releasing maybe two dozen songs in the six years he’s been on the cultural radar… his second record as singer and lyricist for the experimental band Volcano Choir, comes out Sept. 3… If Vernon never releases another record under the name Bon Iver — and he’s publicly suggested that that might be the case — more albums like Repave would render the issue largely irrelevant. It’s that good… Vernon’s lyrics, while characteristically oblique, are largely decipherable here, as the players around him — guys he’s admired since well before he broke through himself — work wonders in arrangements that swell and boom.” (via NPR)
5) Puscifer, All Re-Mixed Up. “Every time Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan works on a new record with Puscifer, his avant-garde side hustle, he does it knowing that someone will ultimately fiddle with this work. The group’s fourth remix record, All Re-Mixed Up, serves as a refigured version of their 2011 album Conditions of My Parole, enlisting co-conspirators from Sir Mix-a-Lot to Telefon Tel Aviv — not to mention This Mortal Coil cofounder John Fryer, Isis/Palms drummer Aaron Harris and singer-songwriter Carina Round. Some play up less obvious features (such as the dancey ‘Monsters Deconstruct’ drum track tweaked by frequent Puscifer collaborator Mat Mitchell) and others completely rebuild the songs from the ground up (like alt-rock gadabout Alain Johannes’ frightening, cinematic take on ‘Man Overboard’).” (via SPIN)
6) Colette, When the Music’s Loud. “Active in her hometown scene since the early ’90s… DJ/singer/songwriter [Colette] taps into a wealth of rich dance music history, and of course she’s right to; it’s hard to imagine a better time for Colette to make a full-length return. While tracks like ‘Hotwire’ would play perfectly alongside a Disclosure-produced R&B jam, the electro-indebted ‘Electricity’ could just as easily slip into the Drive soundtrack without raising any suspicions.” (via SPIN)
7) Bad Sports, Bras. “Bad Sports consciously channel the grimy spirit of late 1970s New York City on their upcoming third album, Bras… [The] 12-track LP also wallows in ’50s swoon (‘Free Spirit’), celebrates power-pop enthusiasm (‘Terrible Place’), and surges with proto-punk grit (‘Eddie Bender’). Elsewhere on the record, Bad Sports claim they ‘don’t wanna live a life back in time,’ but Bras communicates the exact opposite — it’s a filthy, broken-down jukebox that doubles as a time machine.” (via SPIN)
8) Wharfer, The Rattling. “Earlier this month, Wharfer (a.k.a. singer-songwriter Kyle Wall) shared ‘Architect,’ an overcast, lo-fi folk gem slated for The Rattling, the tunesmith’s upcoming album. Due out digitally on August 27, The Rattling was recorded in the Brooklyn-based artist’s bedroom, bathroom, and backyard — a no-frills, self-made passion project through and through. Now, following ‘Architect’ and the gently strummed ‘The Western Swing,’ the Scranton native has made the entire 10-track collection available… Marvel at Wharfer’s haunted, carved-out constructions.” (via SPIN)
9) Robbie Fulks, Gone Away Backward. “Robbie Fulks’ latest album serves as a homecoming. Out August 27, Gone Away Backward marks the alt-country vet’s return not only to his folk and bluegrass roots, but also to Bloodshot Records Thematically, Fulks’ childhood hangs heavily over the 12-track effort; as Bloodshot puts it, the Chicago-based singer-songwriter laments ‘the decline of small-town and rural America in which he was raised.’ Recorded and mixed by Steve Albini, Gone Away Backward inhabits a forgotten segment of the country, telling stories of children outgrowing (and out-earning) their parents, and weary travelers fighting crises of faith and big-city grifters. It’s all woven together with warm instrumentation — banjo, mandolin, fiddle, upright bass, and Fulks’ own guitar picking — and it’s all streaming.” (via SPIN)
10) Forest Swords, Engravings. “As heard on previously shared tracks ‘Thor’s Stone’ and ‘The Weight of Gold,’ Forest Swords’ first full-length hones the tribal meanderings of its shorter, murkier, and more claustrophobic predecessor. The LP still sports a misty coating, but the rust-covered guitar lines feature more prominently and the mechanized beats more pronounced, echoing throughout the caverns [Matthew] Barnes has carved.” — SPIN (via Pitchfork)
